Dates sales take a big hit over MERS rumors

Rumors about Saudi dates having been infected with the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has led to a slump in sales of the commodity in some areas.
Many expatriates and Saudis are no longer eating the fruit because they fear contracting the disease. Many news reports have been published on the Internet to warn people they should only eat dates if they wash them well. The virus has killed a number of people in the Kingdom.
The rumors started circulating recently because of an incorrect understanding of a study published recently by a team of researchers that found the virus in bats in "Europe and beyond." Without reading the study carefully, people in the Middle East thought bats living in palm trees in this region were infecting dates.
An author of the study, Dr. Christian Drosten, a coronavirus expert and director of the Institute of Virology at the University of Bonn Medical Centre in Germany, said that while bats with the virus are likely found in many parts of the world, it was not certain that bats in the Middle East spread the virus.
He said bats in the Middle East have to be tested first to determine if they have the virus. The study, published by the International Society for Infectious Diseases, makes no mention of dates being infected.
The study also has no answer to why the virus has been found largely in Saudi Arabia.
People are concerned because Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), that killed many people in the past, and is a relative of MERS, was spread through bat urine and feces to other animals and then humans.
There has been no confirmation yet from any official body in the Kingdom or elsewhere that bats are responsible for the spread of MERS in Saudi Arabia.
Date traders here say sales are down.
Abu Ali, who sells dates at a vegetable souk, said: "We've noticed that demand for dates is lower this year. For example, we only receive customers who are elderly and almost only Saudis," he said.
He said that he usually buys 40 kg of dates from Al-Ahsa, but this year he bought only 20 kg. "Even the 20 kg was too much. I failed to sell half of them," he said.
Mohammed Ali, a Yemeni salesman at a big market, said he also failed to sell his dates. He said he does not know what was published about coronavirus and bought dates as usual, even though prices had jumped 15 percent.
"After I got the dates, I failed to sell most of it. I tried to sell the dates among relatives and uneducated people because they don’t know about the coronavirus," he said.
Many people in Jordan and Egypt have received SMSs warning them about eating Saudi dates.
Rama Abu Hassan, a Jordanian who performs Umrah every five years, said she decided not to buy Saudi dates after receiving an SMS on her mobile.
"Buying dates is one of the main things that we usually do when we visit the Kingdom, but this year I was worried and decided not to buy dates. Even my neighbors and relatives in Jordan bought Jordanian dates and avoided Saudi dates," she said.

Crown Prince: Future opportunities between Saudi Arabia and China are very big

Saudi Arabia and China signed economic cooperation agreements worth a total of $28 billion at a joint investment forum

The crown prince presided at a China-Saudi cooperation forum that concluded with 12 agreements on cooperation

Updated 7 min 36 sec ago

Arab News

February 22, 2019 15:24

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RIYADH: Future opportunities between Saudi Arabia and China are very big, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Friday during his visit to China.

Citing a 32 percent increase in bilateral trade last year, the crown prince added that high-level contacts were paying off in areas from commerce to security and defense.
"Saudi Arabia's relations with China can be traced back a very long time in the past," Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told President Xi Jinping at their meeting in the Great Hall of the People in the heart of the Chinese capital.

Meanwhile, the Chinese president stressed his country's keenness on joint efforts with Saudi Arabia to support strategic relations between the two countries. He added that there has been coordination with Saudi Arabia on international and regional issues in recent years.

The crown prince earlier Friday presided at a China-Saudi cooperation forum that concluded with 12 agreements on cooperation in fields ranging from petroleum and the chemical industry to investment, renewable energy and counter-terrorism. Saudi Arabia is one of China's top crude oil suppliers and an important market for its exports.

Saudi Arabia and China also signed economic cooperation agreements worth a total of $28 billion at a joint investment forum. 35 agreements had been signed at the forum, held by Saudi Arabia’s investment agency SAGIA. Four licenses for Chinese companies were awarded at the forum.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also pledged Saudi Arabia's backing for China's gargantuan "belt and road" infrastructure project, saying he was willing to link it with the kingdom's Vision 2030 plans— a blueprint put forth by the crown prince to wean the kingdom off its reliance on oil, particularly as sustainable sources of energy become cheaper and more popular.
The Crown Prince's visit follows trips to India and Pakistan, which send millions of laborers to Saudi Arabia and are seeking closer economic ties.